Once known to the outside world as the Queen Charlotte Islands, Haida Gwaii make up a misty, rugged, densely forested island archipelago rising out of the Pacific 150 miles off central British Columba. They have also been dubbed the Canadian Galapagos fir their large number of endemic species, or species that exist nowhere else.

Wildlife aplenty, both endemic and not, still inhabits the lands but especially the waters of Haida Gwaii, where visitors  may see orcas, spawning salmon, Steller sea lions, humpback whales, dolphins, basking sharks, harbour seals, gray whales, and other seafaring creatures.

Haida Gwaii is the realm in which the Haida, a First Nations People, have lived for 10,000 years. These days they live north of Gwaii Haanas, but evidence of their past and ongoing presence is everywhere in Gwaii Haanas National Park Reserve and Haida Heritage Site.